Rafael Nadal has said he does not feel ready to compete at next week's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after turning down a wild card invitation for the ATP 500 event.
The world No 2 has yet to fully recover from the back injury he suffered ahead of last month's Australian Open where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion has not played since that defeat and was awarded a wild card to compete at the March 14-20 tournament at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
"I would like to thank the @DDFTennis for the wild card invitation sent to me," Nadal said on Twitter. "We seriously thought about coming to play, but I don't think I am ready to play yet."
Nadal's withdrawal denies a potential showdown with long-time rival Roger Federer, himself on the comeback trail after missing most of 2020 with a knee injury.
Joining the Swiss legend and eight-time Dubai winner is 2020 US Open champion and top seed Dominic Thiem.
They will be fighting it out with, among other star names, world No 8 Andrey Rublev, three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, 2020 Dubai semi-finalist Gael Monfils, 2018 Dubai champion Roberto Bautista Agut, and 2021 Montpellier winner David Goffin.
